Things I'm Going To Miss About High School: Part 1

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Kaela? Miss high school?

Noooooooooooooooooo.

It's true. There are some things I'm really going to miss about high school.

And you're going to find out all about them in this ?-part series.

Part 1:

Asking. To. Dances.

I take my creativity to the MAX whenever I ask/answer to dances. My best so far was kidnapping Matt at three in the morning, which he definitely wasn't expecting, and locking him in a closet with a cardboard cutout of Jimmer Fredette.. Ah, good times. That was the last one I've done so far. The first was when I put an alarm clock in Chase's room that forced him to walk up to the tennis courts at 5 in the morning, where he was greeted by a balloon that was at least a hundred feet in the air. Yep, I pride myself in these things.

This is the last dance I'll ever have to ask to, so I'm making it good.

Here's a sneak peek:

This is also a goodbye to my old basketball hoop, of which I have fond memories. RIP.

D-Day 2012

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Some of you may remember this picture from a previous blog:

There were three schools I was considering, and I didn't have a clue where to go...

Luckily, as the months went on, they got narrowed down.

Dixie was an obvious no.

But the decision between BYU and UVU was a little harder...so I chose UVU.

And I'm going there now. It's a good school; I'm learning a lot and doing really well in all of my classes, so I decided that I would go there for a year to get my associates, and then try to transfer into BYU. All until I saw this:

And I was like...well...I should make a decision.

So I started considering my options. At UVU I had free tuition, and I didn't have to worry about transfer credit.

At BYU, I had to pay for everything. I would have to transfer my classes from UVU, which is a pain in the butt. And it is an extremely competitive school, so I have heard. And their communications program is like a gazillion times better than UVU's, too.

So the question eventually came down to this: how successful do I want to be? Should I go to a less-known school where I'll probably be on the top end of things...or should I go to the well-known school with the better program where I would most likely be on the bottom end of things?

The answer to that question was not what finalized my decision.

In the end, I really think it was through praying a lot, and what the Spirit told me I needed to do.

I kept going back and forth, where I decided I would go to UVU, and then I changed my mind to BYU, over and over, several hundred times in a day. So, as the great statistician that I am, I decided to keep track of how many times I decided on what, and then whichever school I seemed to be leaning towards more, I would go there.

After I made the decision to do that, I was walking around UVU campus and I saw a guy smoking INSIDE the building. That was my first tally for BYU.

After I started my tally, I couldn't stop thinking of reasons why I needed to go to BYU. The final score was like a gazillion to zero. During that time span not once did I decide that I should go to UVU.

What sealed the deal?

Pretty much the fact that it's BRIGHAM YOUNG University. The fact that it's run by the church!

I want to have the religious aspect to my education. I think praying at the beginning of class is way cool. And I totally want to take religion classes! From what I've heard, they are amazing.

So I'm going to BYU. I'll have to make a lot of sacrifices, and I might become prey to all of the RM's (just kidding) but it'll totally be worth it.

I'm way excited!!

Love,

Kaela

How To Know That Some Dark Force Not Of This World Is NOT Out To Make Your Life Miserable, AKA the greater things in life: Part 7

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When you get in your car and think, "I really want to hear 'Good Feeling' by Flo Rida." and then turn on the radio and the song had just started.

I Can't Believe This Is Happening

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Of all the things in high school that have caused me the most grief...

Journalism is easily in the top two. The only thing that comes before it is retarded friend drama, which seems to plague me no matter how hard I try to avoid it.

Journalism causes me so much pain, heartache, grief...

So WHY THE HECK am I trying to major in it?!

They Took Away My Wisdom...

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As many of you may know, I got my wisdom teeth removed last Friday. I'll admit, I had always been secretly a little bit curious to know what it is like to get them removed. Well guess what, it COMPLETELY sucked. And I've been left totally brain dead for the past few days, with short spurts of "I can do intelligent people things!" every now and then which has gotten me through most of my homework. Right now, I feel like I have the cognitive ability to blog, so I'm going to describe the Linsane (not really) experience I've had with my teeth.

Like I said, I was a little excited at first. But mostly, I was afraid that I wouldn't wake up from the anesthetic. I can't believe I spelled that word right on the first try. Anyways, I got to the dentist and the first thing they had me do was rinse out my mouth with this stuff that tasted like bitter nasty. When I was in the bathroom, I realized that they had Fresh Market Apple hand soap! Which is, of course, my favorite scent that Bath and Body Works still offers (curse you for discontinuing I Love Boys!) So I got my hands smelling all good, and then waited. While I waited, I read an article about twin studies. (All of these little details might explain why I drunk texted what I did after my surgery).

When I got called back, the nurse sat me down and attached some weird clamps to my wrists and told me they were there to make sure nothing went wrong with my heart. I asked, "like if it stops?" And she gave me...a really sad look. Me and that nurse had an interesting, and short lived relationship. I was knocked out for most of it.

Then the dentist came in and stuck an IV in my arm. I've only ever had one other experience of having an IV in my arm and that too sucked, so I took comfort in the fact that I would be unconscious for most of having a needle stuck in my arm. The dentist injected several different funny looking vials into my arm, and told me that the room would probably start to look funny. The last thing I remember is thinking, "DON'T FALL ASLEEP KAELA!! DON'T FALL ASLEEP!!"

When I woke up, it was like any other morning. My dad telling me that I needed to wake up and go to seminary. Actually it was nothing like that. I could hear my heart rate on the monitor, and I thought it was funny how when I stopped breathing the machine would beep faster. My dad and a concerned nurse were standing over me telling me to keep breathing, but to keep my mouth shut. I also couldn't find my face. I couldn't feel it, so I assumed that it just wasn't there. Apparently the first thing I said was "I'm so fat!" because my chin felt really puffy. Then I realized my dad was there and when I looked at him...he just looked like he hadn't shaved in forever. So I told him that he needed to shave. I don't remember it, but apparently I also told him that he was black. At this point, I was still refusing to breathe, and my heart was going something like 130 beats per minute. I was relatively awake, but I couldn't talk. So I pointed. I sat there and pointed at everything like a little grudge child. The nurse was giving me instructions about how I was supposed to live my life for the next few days, but I wasn't even listening. I was too busy wondering where my face went. Also, I could feel a little part of my bottom retainer, so I thought they had also given me a tongue piercing, which I was really upset about. But most importantly, there was something in the bathroom that I was determined to get before I left.

I'm sure anybody who watched me leave was highly amused to see a small, bleeding girl who looked like a puffer fish stumble out of the room, pointing furiously at the bathroom and saying, repeatedly, "Soap! Soap!" but they wouldn't give it to me. I wanted them to give me that half full bottle of soap so badly and they wouldn't. I was really mad. They did give me a blanket though.

When my dad managed to get me inside of the car, all I wanted was to be upside down. For some reason, rolling around all over his car just sounded like a really great idea. Luckily, I was restrained by a seat belt. My dad also promised me a Frosty, which got me talking non-stop about Frosties. He also gave me my phone back, which may not have been the best idea, because I drunk texted three of my friends some pretty embarrassing stuff, the most harmless being "I heard you gave birth to a dolphin."

For some reason, after the surgery I was just going crazy about sea animals. I couldn't stop thinking about seals and dolphins, and somehow my dad offering to rent Mr. Poppers penguins just encouraged me. My only explanation for this, I think, is because I looked in the mirror and decided that I looked like an ugly, red, sad, sea cow.

My dad rented the movie, picked up my drugs, bought me a frosty, and took me home. I just remember sitting at my table on the verge of tears because I couldn't eat my frosty without getting blood in it. Gross, I know. I still love Frosties. Don't judge.

After I had eaten and taken my meds, I, unlike normal humans, didn't go take a long nap. I went straight downstairs and watched an entire season of 30 Rock. It wasn't even that funny. But it was mindless, and it kept me distracted.

At this point, I really have to thank my family for everything they did. My mom and dad waited on me for everything. They brought me food, medicine, and let me watch as much TV as I wanted. I even threw up three times into my dad's dinner, and he didn't get mad at me at all. My love for my family, and anybody who took any sort of pity on me, grew a lot.

The problem with the surgery was that afterwards, I couldn't feel any sort of emotion whatsoever. I felt like I had been reverted back to some sort of primitive child-like state where I could only point to things because talking hurt too much and anybody who gave me food or attention was immediately my hero. I became unnaturally attached to that blanket they gave me at the dentist. I sat on my couch, holding an ice pack to my face, and my blanket in my other hand, and occasionally cried, or threw up, or fell asleep, or ate...yep, I was just like a baby.

The only difference is that this baby got accepted to college! Long story short, I checked my application status online, saw that I had been accepted, witnessed mixed reactions from my family, but I felt nothing. I didn't feel happy, or sad, or confused, or worried, or ecstatic. Nothing. Just nauseous. And then I threw up.

On Saturday, I woke up and watched 30 Rock all day. I got through just about 2 more seasons. I don't know why I watched so much 30 Rock. Later that evening I was watching Kung Fu Panda 2 when Yon Soo, Claire, Karli and Nick came over to bring me ice cream. I almost cried for several reasons, A) I was still in severe amounts of pain, so talking just made that worse B) so did smiling, but I couldn't stop smiling because I was so happy that some of my friends had remembered me C) I couldn't remember the last time I showered, and I knew I looked extremely puffy and ugly, so that was pretty embarrassing. D) And finally, I wasn't sure if my friends were actually there, or if I was just imagining it. Briana also came over on Sunday and gave me ice cream. I had just about the same reaction. I was also planning on going to the temple the next day with my family, but I was in too much pain and our plans just kind of fell through, and that made me cry too. It's like all I could think about was crying and eating. In fact, that's still pretty much all I can think about. Crying and eating. I want another frosty.

So really, the fun "sit around and do nothing while people pamper you" part is over. I went to school today and it was terrible. Now that I'm getting used to my meds, I'm still in tons of pain. I also have gross yellow bruises on my jaw, and whenever I talk I want to cry because it hurts so bad. And I felt really pathetic at school, not talking to anybody or moving because it hurt too much, and I think the combination of my meds and the pain just make me miserable. It feels like my face is being repeatedly punched 24/7. Even taking pain medication doesn't really do anything. I also hear the ocean...but I'm not sure why.

Okay, so I'm just going crazy now. I'm really going to try to stay positive from here on out...but really, I just want another frosty. And a gentle hug. On my hand. I want a hand hug.

I always know that once the quality of my blog starts to deteriorate, it's time to be done. So I'm wrapping this up. Bottom line, people tell you that getting your wisdom teeth out isn't that bad, but it actually severely sucks, and being in pain 24/7 is pretty much the worst.

I'm a much more positive person when I don't feel like I just got in a fight with an angry tooth yanking monkey.

Love,
Kaela

The Stuff I Do In Caw-ledge.

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I feel like I talk about my homework enough that I might as well post some of it on my blog. Here are the Photoshop pictures I was talking about. Essentially, I was supposed to take a picture and add a word or quote that would be thought provoking and juxtaposing. It was actually extremely hard. If it wasn't for TIME.com and their Photojournalism projects, I would have died. Also, I had to write about a page of analyzing the rhetoric behind everything I did to the pictures. I'm not gonna post those, but suffice to say my teacher was amused that I ended one of my paragraphs with "Zing!"

Context: These are Gadaffi's kids. Wanna know how many spellings of Gadaffi there are?
Me too. 

This is like the 2011 version of the famous picture of the kissing couple in Times Square.
If the quote in the middle is too small to read, it's just Imagine.

Egypt...had a revolution. And Twitter was important.

That ship is the Costa Concordia. If you don't know what that is, have
you ever even picked up a newspaper? Just kidding. This was the picture where
I wrote "Zing!" into my paragraph.

I had a list of court cases I needed to memorize, and I had no idea what any of them did. This idea came to me...in the shower.

Edge of Glory: “My name is Gideon, v. Wainwright, and I’m hanging on the moment with you. I have the right to an attorney, and there’s nothing you states can do.”

One that got away: “In another life, you would be in jail, I would have a search warrant, exclusionary rule! In another life, I would know Mapp v. Ohio, so I don’t have to say you’re the one who got away, the one who got away.”

Where Them Girls At “So much racism in school, how can I get in? I tell my friend, I wanna get in! And then he says, I’m here with my friends. That got me thinkin, and that’s when I said “affirmative action, action, wooooo.”

Where Them Girls At “Apply to U of CA, I wanna get in. Rejection letter, supreme court, I win. Bakke v. UCA, your admissions is wrong! It got me thinkin, and that’s when I said “reverse discrimination, ation, wooooo.”

One less lonely girl: “There’s gonna be one less stupid child. Saw so much discrimination before we ruled you, Brown v. Board 2, now all I see is you. I’m comin for you, I’m comin for you. You need to desegregate these schools with “all deliberate speed” and when you do, in the world, there’s gonna be one less stupid child.”

Love the way you lie “Just gonna stand there and watch me burn? That’s alright, because it’s not a cruel and unusual punishment. Just gonna stand there and hear me cry? That’s alright, because Furman v. Georgia said the death penalty isn’t unconstitutional.”

Lighters: “This one’s for you and me, Plessy v. Ferguson, cuz blacks are right where they should be. Separate but equal, I open my eyes, and all I wanna see are separate railroad cars, separate railroad cars.”

Paradise: “When she was just a girl, she expected the world, but it flew away from her reach, so she ran away in her sleep and dreamed of Engel v. Vital, cuz she wanted prayers, prayers…in her school.”

Here comes the sun: “Here comes the newspaper, Near v. Minnesota. Here comes the newspaper, and I say, we are screwed. Prior restraint, the government can’t prevent a paper from being distributed.”

Only girl in the world: “Want you to make me feel like I have all the privacy in the world. Like I can have as many contraceptives as I want. Like I’m the only one who knows about Griswold v. Connecticut!”

Black and Yellow: “Yeah, uh huh, you know what it is, Roth v. US, Roth v. US, Roth v. US, yeah, uh huh, you know what it is, if you don’t you should by now, that sex and obscenity are not synonymous.”

Viva la Vida: “I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing, Roman calvary choirs are singing, be my mirror my soul as we declare acts of congress unconstitutional. For some reason I can’t explain, Marbury v. Madison is calling my name. Never an honest word, but that was what the Supreme Court ruled.”

Just a Dream: “I was thinking about Miranda, thinking about Arizona, thinkin about the court, what it gonna be, just specific guidelines for police interrogations!”

Never Say Never: “See in Miller v. California they created this thing, called the SLAPS test for obscenity. Only serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value, would be allowed for the public to see.”

Love you like a love song: “It’s been said and done, the separate but equal doctrine has been over run, we can thank Brown v Board of Education for that one, one step closer to ending racism.

Yes! These actually worked.

Learning things...it's actually pretty fun.

Peace!

Why I Loved Valentines Day (Hint, It Doesn't Actually Have To Do With Love)

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Valentines day...hmmm :)

Today was GREAT!! Today is one of the best days I've had all year. I really wasn't expecting that. I didn't get roses, nothing gushy or valentines-y happened...but a lot of little things happened that made today really, really good.

I wore my free hugs shirt to school, and got lots of hugs! And I didn't get in trouble for the back saying "If you had to pay, it would be prostitution!" but I'm sure a lot of people now think I'm really weird. Which is okay :)

I drove up to school and got a FANTASTIC parking spot. The only way I could have gotten closer is if I had been handicapped. It was one of those sports where it's so good you aren't sure if it's actually okay to park there or not...but I didn't get a ticket! (This actually was one of the top 3 parts of my day. That should say something about the parking situation up at school).

Then I got to hang out with Matt in the library for a bit, which was good because that helped me not freak out about my FIRST huge exam of college...

Which I absolutely ACED! Well, I'm pretty sure I aced it ;) I've never felt more confident about such a large test. I guess those 8+ hours of studying and making up fancy mnemonic devices really helped. And I didn't even have any Strawberry Lemonade! (Or for my fellow Spanish gangsters, "Limonada de FRESSSSCA!")

I finished my test in 45 minutes, so I had time to go get pizza and bread sticks and a Dr. Pepper from the Pizza Hut on campus before my next class. I love pizza. And bread sticks. And Dr. Pepper. The drink. (My English teacher's name is Dr. Pepper.) And I just hung out in the library and ate my pizza and looked at BYU's Communication-Journalism program and the different classes they offer and they have photojournalism! They also have a general ed class called "Dinosarus." Seriously, every time I look at BYU their classes look so great and I feel like I might be better off going there. So hard to decide! I also saw that you can go study at their Jerusalem center, and wow...that would be cool. I decided I would absolutely love to go to Jerusalem, maybe not to study, since I don't have $10,000 lying around...but hopefully someday. I think that would be an amazing experience.

Then I went to English. About a week ago I turned in an assignment that I worked SO hard on and took me FOREVER to do. I had to Photoshop a bunch of different pictures and place words or a quote onto them that juxtaposed...kind of confusing, but I wasn't sure if I had done my pictures right since they didn't look anything like the examples on the website. So I turned them in, figuring I was either going to completely bomb the assignment or (wishful thinking) that for some crazy reason I had actually done really well. Today I got my assignment back...but not before my teacher (Dr. Pepper) gave us a huge lecture about how he grades this assignment harder than our final paper and showed a really good example that was nothing like mine. With each thing he said, I felt my grade going down from a B...to a C...to a "there is no way I passed this assignment." And then he handed me back my assignment......I was SHOCKED to see 100%. It felt really great, especially considering how poorly I've been doing with my high school assignments and how unsure I was about what I had made. But he commented on my paper and said it was exactly what he was looking for and my pictures were some of his favorites. I hope this isn't coming off as bragging :P I'm just excited to actually be doing well in school.

English also ended 30 minutes early, so I had time to run back to Timpview and pick up my math book which I left there. I also was not late to work, which went relatively well!

When I got home, I got to watch The Bachelor...which I'm not too happy that Courtney got a rose....Kacie B for the win! Oh, and something else happened when I got home which was...good :)

And now I'm just chilling, writing this blog and listening to We the Kings. And I don't have school tomorrow. Yep, it's been a really great day :)

Happy Valentines Day!!!

Love,
Kaela